Are you worried about the Bubonic plague, smallpox or tuberculosis? OK, OK, most likely not. Although these infectious diseases decimated past populations and brought entire empires to their knees, most Americans today don’t think twice about such notorious killers. To most of us, they’re just a few lines in our history books…a thing of the past.

Or are they?

I’m going to ask you a simple question: Would you have fallen prey to the notorious Black Death or would you have been one of the unscathed survivors?

Before you answer, let me ask you a few more questions: Do you suffer from chronic and recurrent infections? If something is going around, are you always the one to pick it up? Do your parents and siblings suffer from frequent infections? Are antibiotics just a part of your quarterly rotation of meds?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it puts the first question in a whole different light.

With the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940’s, infectious diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis have been for the most part effectively eliminated. However, may I submit to you that the same weakness, which made certain individuals more susceptible to these horrific diseases, is the same weakness that is your own Achilles’ heel regarding illness and recurrent infection?

A common symptom of hypothyroidism is a weakened immune system, leading to chronic and recurrent infections. Prior to the advent of antibiotics, most hypothyroid individuals became victims of the notorious illnesses of their time.

Thankfully, the same population that would have previously fallen prey to such diseases of the past has been saved because of the introduction these life-saving drugs. However, these hypothyroid individuals have lived to suffer from infection after infection throughout their lives. Their weakened immune systems are patched up to face the next illness or infection, but what about their quality of life? In addition to a weakened immune system and an increased susceptibility to disease, many individuals suffer an impaired quality of life from such symptoms of hypothyroidism as extreme fatigue, weight gain, joint and muscle pain.

The Great Flu Pandemic of 1918-1919 wiped out nearly 10 percent of the American population. The Bubonic plague practically halved Europe’s population during the Renaissance. Would you have been a survivor? Or maybe the more correct question is: what’s your thyroid status?